Lightning, storms, and similar electrostatic phenomena have been objects of attention since time immemorial, and devices for alerting observers thereto are numerous and well known. Examples include the "Thunderstorm Warning System" of Lundquist & Scuka U.S. Pat. No. 3,611,365; the "Severe Weather Warning Device" of Downing & McEwen U.S. Pat. No. 3,753,117; and the "Stormscope" of Ryan & Spitzer U.S. Pat No. 4,023,408. However, such devices require power supplies, energized by internal batteries or by leads from an external source, to sense such phenomena as well as to actuate their many and varied components. Moreover, their reception and indication of lightning, etc. utilize radio frequencies and, thus, are subject to RF interference from identifiable and unidentifiable sources, both local and distant. These complications are confusing to observers and undesirable, so my detection devices and methods avoid them.